Spain announced Monday, March 2, that it has barred U.S. forces from using its military bases for the war against Iran, forcing at least 11 American tanker aircraft to depart the southern bases of Rota and Morón late Sunday, March 1, the New York Times reports.
“Spanish military bases will not be used for anything that falls outside the agreement with the United States and the United Nations Charter,” Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on Spanish television, calling the U.S.-Israeli operations “unilateral.” Defense Minister Margarita Robles added that while a bilateral agreement on the bases exists, Spain considers it limited to operations consistent with international law—a framework she said the U.S. and Israel had violated. She noted the bases “could be used” in the future for humanitarian purposes.
The move is consistent with the approach of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose government has been among the sharpest European critics of the Trump administration. Sánchez was among the first European leaders to call Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide.
The decision drew immediate fire. Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told Euronews that Spain was “standing with all the tyrants of the world.”
The U.S. had used the Spanish bases for refueling and logistics in the buildup to the attack, as it has in past operations, including the 2021 Afghanistan evacuation. That access is now cut off. Thus, Spain is the first NATO ally to actively obstruct the Iran campaign.
